Plugged In: The Extended Mix

The Vignelli Canon
AisleOne points us towards "an amazing 96 page book on better understanding typography in graphic design, according to him. The book gives specific details on Vignelli’s methodology and approach as well as how he decides on paper sizes, typefaces and other tangibles. There is also a nice section of grids."

Masked Input Plugin
This is a really cool jQuery plugin that "allows a user to more easily enter fixed width input where you would like them to enter the data in a certain format (dates,phone numbers, etc)." Watch a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMaTiGKykl8">video demonstration</a>.

Return of Terry Tate
"I’m number 56, and I’m the meanest, baddest, and downright prettiest Office Linebacker around. Not to brag or nothing, but even the good folks at OSPN (that’s the Office Sports Programming Network for you newbies) named me the Office Athlete of the Century. But I don’t let none of that go to my head. And I know ya’ll ain’t heard from Triple T lately, but I’ve been working on some big things. Believe that, baby."

Palin as President.
This is just too funny, whatever your political affiliation. But probably funnier if you're a Democrat.

I've been tumbling.
I'll still be linking things up here, but also things over there. I have a process, I swear.

Aaron Martin is freelancing again.
We'll miss having his eyeballs on Viewzi full-time, but our loss is your gain. Put this dude in your Rolodex and feel confident in referring anyone you know who has need of great design work to his capable hands.

The Internet Is Ruining America's Movies and Music
Another gem of an article from the WSJ. Did the editor quit or something? One of many nuggets: "no one knows how to listen to a complete album anymore. Everything is slanted toward the hit single." Welcome to 1980, Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel. We've known this for quite a while now.

Sigur Rós @ MoMA
"Shot live at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on Icelandic Independence Day, Sigur Rós @ MoMA is a unique concert film highlighting new material from the band's latest album, "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust", as well as classic Sigur Rós songs."

Legoland's Miniland USA
Friend and photographer Jeremy Johnson has some amazing photos of the also-amazing Lego landscape located in Carlsbad, California. Wow.

Fred & Friends
There is only one thing wrong with Fred products, and that is that some of them are only prototypes. Awesome, teasing prototypes that I desperately want. I'm talking to you, <a href="http://www.worldwidefred.com/500xl.htm">500XL</a> earbud speakers.

British Auto Poster Campaign
I love these. Cheeky copy, great photography and a nice mashup of modern and vintage styles. Plus, it's chock full of wicked worn-ness.

Physical value of sound.
Too cool: "[Suzuki]'s most compelling work is completely off the turntable. Dubbed the Sound Chaser, it is some thing like a toy train running on a small track, except this train has a record needle and the tracks are made from records that have been cut into train track-like segments. The sounds played by the Sound Chaser can be modified by swapping segments of the vinyl track out, mixing and matching for an endless variety of possible songs."

Buy n Large.
The fictional megacorp in Wall-e has a very real and very creepy website.

404 User Experience Design.
<a href="http://www.geniantsandbox.com/">The Geniant Blog</a> is dead. This new site frees us from the "Geniant" name and allows us to forge our own identity. Check it out, yo.

Tivo Alert - The Duke Spirit Tonight On Conan
Now that the UK group The Duke Spirit has wrapped up their North American tour with BRMC, they have one stop remaining: a performance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Liela Moss and her bandmates will be on the program tonight, so don't forget to set those Tivos just in case your peepers just can't stay open that late.

The Most Important Skill
"The one skill that I would identify as the most important, and the one that can make the most positive impact on your profession, is that of mastering your capacity and ability to learn."

Timewaste - Rage Fan Vs. Hipster Record Store Clerk
"Dear Hipster Record Store Clerk,
Thank you for judging me on the CD I bought yesterday. Our passive-aggressive altercation made me realize how conformist I am for buying an old Rage Against The Machine album. Your condescension was just the intellectual wake-up call I needed..." And the lulz keep coming.

POP MATTERS
"Vinyl record sleeves with 2-sided insert featuring faux-academic material on pop music and the state of the record industry, seeded with promotional material for indie radio stations."

Song Charts.
Just what it sounds like. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dreamalynn/2316780481/in/pool-songchart/">Fave.</a>

Declare Independence.
This Bjork video totally kicks. And is that string-machine a real instrument? Because that would be awesome.

Nailed It.
Jason Fried on why many web panels are so weak. I like seeing people on panels get ruffled and heated with one another. It's called passion, and there's not enough of it sitting behind those long draped tables.

Bloxes.
"Bloxes are building blocks made of interlocking pieces of corrugated cardboard, folded together.. Their unique shape and structure make them exceptionally strong and lightweight — you could build yourself a platform to stand on, and then pick it up and move it wherever you need to." By Aza Razkin. WANT.

Heima Screening On YouTube Tomorrow
Shot in Iceland, Heima follows Sigur Ros as they play small towns and other beautiful, unusual locations. If you have not seen this film, this is your chance to redeem yourself. Hopefully the YouTube version isn't too compressed. View <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpQ6m2Qf918">the trailer</a> in preparation for tomorrow.

Dreaming of Revenge
<a href="http://www.kakiking.com/">Kaki King's</a> new album is just lurvely.

Watch the Helvetica documentary.
It appears that Gary Huswit's "Helvetica" is now available, in full, on Google video. If you've never seen it, now's your chance.

The Question: Audiences
I'm not sure how old this is, but Ze Frank solicited answers from various people (including perennial Jaredigital fave Imogen Heap) regarding how their audience affects their work. Interesting stuff.

A List Apart: Issue 254
Two great articles by Andy Rutledge and Naz Hamid. Very thoughtful and well-written pieces.

Time Loop Theory.
It's a little difficult to wrap my head around it, but this LOST theory seems pretty plausible.

NewsFire is now free.
I used this as my main reader till a few years back. Not sure why I stopped; it's a very slick interface.

Morale-O-Meter.
I've been using this for about a week, and it's a lot of fun. I only wish that the service was a bit faster!

A&E (video)
As long as I'm gushing about Goldfrapp today, I may as well go ahead and point you to this fetching video for "A&E." Dancing leaf-people? Always a good decision.

Dear Colleagues
Generally good advice for all kinds of designers. I'm totally guilty of the 'not responding to email' thing, and assure you that it is due to a horrible lack of self-management and <em>not</em> snobbery. [<a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/ideas/ten_thousand_things_asks_designers_to_stop_acing_like_divas_78565.asp">via</a>]

The Roaring Mouse
Armin Vit:
"I haven't expressed sheer effusiveness about a logo on Brand New before, but I think this warrants it: I love it. I would even call it "brilliantly executed" and stand behind it 100%."
I agree; this logo is awesome.

Linkpwnd.
My apologies for the RSS spam. I'm attempting to rejigger my RSS feeds and apparently I am a huge noob. Please bear with me as I figure it out.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes to Plugged In links.
I'm moving my link list to del.icio.us, so I apologize for any annoying feedreader hoopla that may result from my tinkering with Feedburner et all in the next little while. Gracias.

Be my Netflix friend.
I just signed up for Netflix, so if you're there too it'd be great if you added me as a friend.

Apple's Resolution-Independent Interface Patent
"Have an Apple High-DPI MegaCinema Display? No problem. Just scale the user interface to twice its regular size. Every single button, title bar, piece of text and scroll widget draws itself at a new size. The result is silky smooth — beautiful buttons, beautifully clickable, and beautifully high-resolution. That's the idea, anyway. It just needs to, you know, be programmed."

The (Dutch) Music Industry Proposes "iPod Tax."
Another dumb idea. What I really want to know is what's up with Wired's choice of article graphic: Buzz Lightyear covered up by an archaic U.S. stamp on an iPod screen? Is that the Dutch symbol for taxes? I don't get it.

Stephen King Would Ruin LOST.
I know the guy was just having a conversation with buddies, but this is probably the worst ending you could suggest for LOST. Seriously, that's it? Weak!

Steve Ballmer explains the value of the Zune.
"I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video of your vacation. That's a software experience." Gross, dude. Sounds more like an STD experience to me.